Archive for June, 2010

Hello to all of our current users as well as future My Job Chart converts. We are announcing today that My Job Chart has recently topped 21,000 users. More families are benefiting from the online chore chart program than ever before. This is a concept that was conceived by one, but continues to grow and develop from the input and suggestions we receive each day from all of you.

As My Job Chart continues to pull the interest of thousands of individuals and families across the world, we want to thank all of you for being a part of something great and for utilizing the tool for it’s intended purpose. That purpose is to help families grow together and to help parents teach kids the value of hard work by being rewarded for their efforts.

Many of you have helped spread the word about My Job Chart and we are deeply appreciative of your sharing the benefits of this FREE site with your friends. A popular directory, Make Use Of, recently reviewed our site and added it to their website. We will also soon be featured in a post series on their homepage regarding some of the web’s most recent popular sites and online tools.

My Job Chart has also appeared on many other authority websites as well as TV and Radio broadcasts. Some of these include:

As the site gains popularity, look for even more exciting features to be available on My Job Chart. We are constantly striving to improve the site and bring to light the ideas and suggestions that you the parents are providing through your constant feedback. Thanks again from the My Job Chart team.

In our post featuring Jeannie Cullip and some different chore ideas, I meant to also add some ideas for chore rewards. I wanted to offer some ideas on different ways or things you can do to reward your children for doing their chores. However, in an effort to keep things short and concise, I slashed that part in the last post and decided to write a completely new one all about rewards. So, now that you’ve got some good ideas for different chores, let’s throw some thoughts around about compensation.

Everyone loves to be rewarded for their work, especially kids. Children are in constant need of encouragement and re-assurance. One way we can give them both of these is by rewarding them for good behavior. When kids finish the chores, parents should always praise and reward. This let’s them know that you are happy with their accomplishment and they will want to continue to do chores to please you and to receive praise.

This is why My Job Chart’s chore reward system is so great! When your child’s points add up, they can redeem them for rewards that you set up with them. The points are added up automatically and you, as the parent, are notified as soon as the chores are finished and when your child wants to redeem a reward for their accumulated points.

So let’s talk about some different rewards that you can offer. Just like the chore ideas post, we’ll break them down into age categories.

Reward Ideas for Children 4-7

trip to the park

trip to Chucky Cheese

new barbie/doll

new pair of shoes

trip to the local pool

ice cream trip (DQ, coldstone, yogurtland…etc)

get a candy at the store

make cookies

Reward Ideas for Children 8-10

go to a movie at the theatre

curfew extension

video game time extension

new game for Play Station, Wii, Xbox

pick a rental movie/blueray at Blockbuster

trip to the zoo

trip to Sunsplash or nearby water park

Reward Ideas for Children 11-14

sleep over party with 2 or 3 friends

trip to the mall with friends

money (who doesn’t want a little cash?)

tickets to a concert

pedicure/manicure

snowboarding trip

new make-up

lotion

nail polish

Family Reward Ideas for All Ages

take a family hike

bike ride

walk

roller blading

trip to visit cousins

sleep over at grandmas

have dinner somewhere fun and entertaining like Joe’s Crab Shack

family trip to disneyland

knottsdberry farms,

6 flags

sea world

the beach

These are just a few of the countless ways in which you can reward your children for their accomplishments and completing their chore chart tasks. So parents, when the points add up, don’t forget to pay up! What are some ideas that you’ve had for compensating your children for the hard work they’ve done?

Since Y2k, there have been 147 reported plane crashes. Of the crashes resulting in fatalities, 24% of the passengers were able to somehow survive.

The causes of these plane crashes are wide in variety and range from bird-engine encounters (bird strike) to pilot incapacitation. Despite the plethora of ways a plane can end up going down, there is always a common theme amongst many of the survivors.

It is proven that “parents” are able to forge the disparities of plane crashes at a much higher rate than the average passenger. Why is this? Many are rightly asking themselves what it is about these relentless caregivers that empowers them to fight through the flames and come out on top despite such difficult odds.

We were wondering the same thing and decided to ask the experts. We talked to the My Job Chart Board members and were able to come up with 8 ways that parenting can help you survive a plane crash. They are as follows.

1. You’re so broke the only “plain” ride you can afford to go on is the Merry-Go-Round.

2. Before the flight you see that the plane isn’t Boeing and say to the pilot,”You’re not going out in THAT are you?”

3. Parenting wears you out to the point that you’re too busy crashing out on the reclined economy class seat to even notice the real crash.

4. Your kid’s behavior (and your budget) forces you to always choose the very back row of the plane which is known to be the safest place during a crash.

5. You will always choose an aisle seat (also a safe place to sit during a crash) to keep your kids securely locked between you and the the wall of the plane.

6. You’ve practiced long and hard on your kids, now in the heat of the moment, you can yell at the pilot from your seat and guide him to a safe field landing.

7. Because you’re constantly getting up and down to take the kids to the bathroom, you never have your tray down which can inhibit your swift exit after a crash landing.

8. You deal with tragedies every day (ie. kids stealing each others toys, 8 dirty diapers in one day, little Tyler broke his right arm AND got his big toe caught in the chain all at the same time… etc) What’s a little plane crash?

(The 8 ways parenting can help you survive a plan crash are solely opinions and do not rely on factual evidence. They are by no means true, and the opinions are in no way affiliated with My Job Chart and/or it’s team members.)

I’ve written a lot about family time and how important it is to make quality time for your family. One of the most entertaining ways to spend quality family time is to find fun easy games that the whole family can enjoy. Growing up in a small town, I’ve had to learn a lot of games. I have played a wide variety of games throughout my life, as I’m sure most of you have, including board games, outdoor night games, card games, and any other type of game you can think of. We had to have SOMETHING to do in order to keep us busy on those long summer nights in a small town.

Playing games with your friends is no doubt fun. What we may not realize is that those same games can be played as a family in order to grow closer together and establish tighter bonds between family members. That in mind, I wanted to list a few easy family games. These are just some ideas, I’m sure everyone has their own favorites and I invite you to share those with us as well. I always love to learn a new game and try it out with the family. It’s fun when the game is new for everyone so all members feel like they are on equal playing fields and you can have fun learning together.

(Keep in mind that you may have different names for some of these same games in your own family)

Easy Family Card Games

Kings Four Corners: Each player starts with 7 cards with the deck in the middle and four cards face up around the deck. Draw one card per turn. A King moves to the corner (1 for each suit… hence 4 corners) and you fill in the line with the same suit from king down to ace. First person to run out of his/her hand wins.

Spoons: Sit in a circle. The object is to get four of a kind. Each person starts with 4 cards. The person who starts draws a card from the pile. He can choose to keep the card or pass it. He must pass one of his cards to the person next to him and it keeps going around the circle. The first person continues to draw from the deck. When someone gets four of a kind, he/she grabs one of several spoons in the middle (there is one less spoons in the middle as there are people playing). After one person takes a spoon everyone is allowed to grad a spoon. The person who is left without a spoon at the end must sit out until the next round. Play the game until there is only one person left, the winner!

Apples to Apples: This is a fun game where each person get’s to find out his personality type at the end by the cards that he wins throughout the game. For rules to this game, click here.

Easy Outdoor Games for Families

Hide and Seek: One person is the “seeker.” Everyone else hides and the seeker counts to a pre-determined number and then tries to find those hiding.

Cops and Robbers:You need two teams. One team are cops and the other are robbers. You also need to choose a jail area. The cops have to stand in the jail and count to five. When they get to five, the have to run and try and chase the robbers. If they catch any, they put them in jail. When the team is caught, the games is over and the teams swap roles.

Big Foot Relay: Have the children bring two shoeboxes with them. Tape the lids onto the boxes, then cut a one-inch-wide and four-inch long slit in each top. Have the contestants slip their feet into the slits in the boxes and race.

Giant Squid: This game came as a result of our family watching a movie where a giant squid terrorized a submarine… can’t remember the movie name. Have four or five bases spread out across the yard. One or two people in the middle are the squid and the others try to avoid the squid by running from base to base (ship to ship).

Pick Pocket Tag: Put a strip of cloth in each player’s back pocket. Have the players try to grab each other’s strips without having their own strip taken. The player with the most cloth strips wins the game.

Easy Family Board Games

Life: simulates a person traveling through his/her life. They encounter real life situations from college , getting married, having kids…etc. Good family game.

Settlers of Catan: The players in the game represent settlers establishing colonies on the island of Catan. Players build settlements, cities, and roads to connect them as they settle the island.

Chess: Protect your queen while trying to get the other player in “check-mate.”

Checkers: played on an eight by eight squared board (with sixty-four total squares) with twelve pieces on each side. These pieces may only initially move and capture diagonally forwards. Only when a piece is “crowned” or “kinged” may it move both backwards or forwards.

These are just a few of the games I grew up with and still play today with my family. What are the games that you play? Maybe you have games you or a family member have come up with yourself that you’d like to share. Happy parenting and maybe your kids will want to use some of those points from completing their chore chart to buy some board games or family game time.

An article was published a couple weeks ago by one of My Job Chart’s faithful users. Jeannie Cullip, in her article entitled “Chores for the Whole Family,” talks about how chores are a great way to teach kids responsibility. The idea for this post came from her. She lists some of her own great ideas on different chores that you can assign your kids on their chore chart and breaks them down in to age-specific chores. I encourage you to take a look. She offers some great insights.

A lot of our users are asking for suggestions on different chore ideas for their kids. In an effort to satisfy these demands, we’ve come up with a short list of chore ideas for kids. Hopefully some of you can add to this list and we can all share ideas together. Like Jeannie, we’re going to break them up into age categories. The three age groups we will offer ideas for are 4-7yrs, 8-10yrs, and 11-14 yrs.

Chore Ideas for 4-7 Year Old Kids

Feed the dog and/or other pets

Pick up toys and other belongings

Help carry in and put away the groceries

Dust the window seals and end tables (You can have them dust others things around the house that are not too high for them to reach as well.)

Put away clean clothes. (You can also teach them how to fold their own clothes and have them fold and put away their clothes on laundry day.)

Make their bed

Eat all their vegetables at mealtime (shouldn’t have to be a chore but as most of you probably know it definitely can become one)

Chore Ideas for 8-10 Year Old Kids

Vacuum all the carpets

Sweep and mop the floors

Take out the trash (Also, take the trash can to the curb. May be more appropriate for a little older kids depending on how heavy the trash can is each week.)

Fold and put away laundry

Clean and put away dishes

Wipe down countertops

Wash windows

Clean room and bathroom

Chore Ideas for 11-14 Year Old Kids

Wash the car

Mow and trim the lawn

Rake leaves around the yard

Water the trees and bushes

Help with doing laundry (teach them how to operate the washer and dryer)

Prepare simple meals for family mealtime once a week

Clean out the refrigerator

Prepare grocery list for the week (be careful they don’t go overboard on the snacks)

These are just a few quick ideas for age specific chores that we were able to come up with. Perhaps you have some ideas of your own and some age specific chores that you use in your household. We’d love to hear your ideas. Please use the comment section below to post your chore ideas to this post. Thanks everybody and happy parenting.

Good morning parents and MJC users. We have something very special for you to start off this week’s blog writing. A little over a week ago, we asked Jon, an Arizona native, to write an article about our parenting tips blog. We wanted him to offer his own perspective on parenting and how it has shaped his life. Jon is not a parent but is a college student at Arizona State University. Jon writes:

As a guest writer on the My Job Chart Parenting Tips Blog, I would like to take this post in a different direction. You see, I do not have any children yet, nor am I married. I will not pretend to write from my own experience as a parent, as that would be dishonest and most likely of no value to you the reader. I can however write from my experience as a son, and offer insight into what makes the biggest difference in the life of a child, as it has not been that long since leaving the nest.

I was blessed with what I consider to be role model parents. They weren’t always perfect, and they’ll be the first ones to tell you, but I would like to share with you some of the things that have impacted me and helped mold me into the man I am today. I will discuss three attributes: love, service, and discipline.

Love

There was never a doubt in my mind that my parents loved me. I remember in elementary school, my mother would make our brown bag lunches for us. She would make my favorite peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a capri sun juice, chips, and maybe a pudding cup if we were lucky. And so often, there would be a little note from my dear mother. She would write something simple like, “Love you Jonny Boy” or “Hope you have a great day, Love Mom.” As can be expected from a seven year old I would read them, slightly embarrassed, so that none of my friends could see, since that would inevitably lead to teasing. But how these notes made a difference. Almost 20 years later I still remember them, and I knew my parents loved me. I’m not saying that little notes in lunch bags are all it takes to raise a child with love, but I believe that if the small things are being done, the big things will naturally follow.

Service

I remember one December my family decided to do the Twelve Days of Christmas for a less fortunate family. This tradition involves making presents based on the song “The Twelve Days of Christmas” and giving one present for each day before Christmas. My siblings and I would take the present and sneak up to their porch and knock and run, leaving the present on their doorstep. It was great fun as we imagined ourselves secret good doing spies! My parents taught us by example to serve others as well as those in our family.

Discipline

When I was six my family moved into a large two story house in a small town in northern Arizona. It was definitely what you would call a “fixer upper”. Since then, we have been constantly working on it. Every Saturday my dad would wake me and my two older brothers up early and we would get to work. We tore down old walls, put up new walls, redid the floors and roof, and worked on the yard. Our entire family would work in the garden pulling weeds and harvesting. Through the sweat and hard work I learned about the rewards that follow. I saw the food that we grew in the garden become delicious meals prepared by my mother, and I saw the house around me transform into a home, a home we built with our own hands. My parents taught me discipline through hard work, and that is something I have carried with me my entire life that has helped me to excel.